"I think we’ve gotten to a point where we just are completely unable to support the president, no matter who the president is," former New York Gov. David Paterson told radio host John Catsimatidis on AM 970 in New York.

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"What bothers me is that if what was written was true, then there is a cabal in the White House that’s working against the president," said Paterson, who also served as the New York Democratic Party's chairman. "President Trump got elected, and these other people did not."

"Which one of these people who says that they’re trying to save the country and trying to save the president from himself … ran for office and got elected?” he added.

The explosive op-ed published by the Times this week, attributed to a "senior administration official," details a network of White House staffers seeking to block Trump's "worst inclinations." The author claims there is a "steady state" within the administration that believes the president is "anti-democratic" and amoral.

The piece describes a “two-track presidency" in which aides and officials work around and against Trump's desires.

"There is a phrase that we used to use [when I was governor] for staff that acted this way, and it’s called 'we know better,' " Paterson said. " ‘Yeah, Gov. Paterson, he knows some things, but we know better.’ ‘Yeah, President Trump has done some good things, but then he acts out, and we know better.’ "

"And it’s dangerous," he continued. "Democrats need to listen … just because it’s Trump doesn’t mean that we should support this kind of action on the part of appointed governmental officials at the highest levels who are replacing the president’s prerogatives to make decisions with their own opinions. They haven’t been elected to anything."

The White House has denounced the op-ed author as "gutless" with multiple officials calling on the individual to resign. Trump called on the Justice Department to investigate the author's identity and slammed the op-ed as an act of "treason."

For the most part, Democratic lawmakers have responded to the op-ed with denouncements of the president's leadership, calling the report concerning.